Still I rise...

chapter three.

I sat their contemplating what I had done to myself when I heard voices outside the door. I strained to hear what was going on, but I couldn’t catch a word of the conversation. Everything went quiet and I thought they were leaving till I heard the latch of the lock opening. 

I was staring at the door as it opened and a pretty lady came in. She had long light brown hair, lively green eyes and pale white skin. What caught my attention was how if you  focused you could see how tired she looked, the bags under her eyes,  the sluggish way she walked and the one thing you couldn’t ignore, the smell of death that embodied her.

She stepped into the room with the same men as before right behind her staring menacingly at me and another lady with her.  The other female had white blond hair that blended well with her lightly tanned skin but contrasted entirely with her pitch black eyes.  Both girls seemed a few years older than me and were very tall but the blonde seemed stronger and more graceful definitely a shifter as opposed by her companion who was very thin and looked fragile yet still had the distinct smell of a wolf. 

The weaker of the two females came and sat on the cot with me. She sat close to me but far enough to give me my space. The other three stared at her with reprimand while she looked me over.  I could tell she was trying to figure me out but didn’t know where to start. Her eyes were soft and looked so kind.

“How are you feeling sweetie?” she asked me after a silent pause.

“What day is it?” I asked in return.

“It’s august 31st, “she replied. 

So, it’s Friday already.  It’s been 6 days that I left, I thought while she stayed quiet.

“Why do you ask?” she broke the silence.

I debated lying to her, but I knew I had to tell them the truth if I had any chance of surviving.

“It’s been six days since I left my pack. “ They all stared at me surprised they had gotten something out of me.

“Why did you leave?” The other female asked.

I stared at her before turning my attention away from any of them as I started to brief them on my story.

“I was eleven when I found my mate. He was my brother’s friend and two years older than me. He was the heir to the Alpha and one day he would take over the pack. He came up to me the day he turned saying I was his and as soon as a stared into his eyes I knew he was right.

 I’ve always been more independent compared to my friends and I didn’t want rush into anything so I convinced him to wait till I graduated to go through the mating process. So we both agreed that it’d be best if he didn’t mark me to make things less complicated for the both of us.

I woke Sunday morning to an empty house since my parents had left for the month on vacation; my brother was most likely with his mate.”

I stayed quiet for a while thinking of my brother and how I missed him dearly.  I began loose myself in my thoughts when I heard one of them clear their throat. I looked up at them with a cheapish smile.

“Sorry-“

“Don’t apologize. It’s a sign of weakness,” the burly man cut me off.

“Umm. Okay. As I was saying, I was home alone and my wolf began to get impatient so I went for a run. I was out for a while till I decided to go see my mate. I went to the pack house and went up to his room. I opened the door and stood their unnoticed. I-I- -“

The pain came full force again.  It knocked the air out of my lungs and left me gasping for oxygen. I let out a scream of agony as my body contorted.  At that moment all I wanted to do was die, but I knew there was more past this pain. I managed to gain control of myself again.

They were all huddled around me not really knowing how to help. I ignored their outstretched hands as I sat up and attempted and failed to wipe the sweat that had formed upon my brow.  I sighed and looked at them not really knowing what to say. 

“You can’t imagine what it was like; it’s a feeling I wouldn’t wish on anyone. At first I couldn’t comprehend what I was seeing. It was just so unimaginable. I watched their naked bodies wrapped around one another, as they kissed and felt each other. He was supposed to be my first, as I was meant to be his.”

“You don’t have to go on,” the blonde girl stopped me.

I looked up at her and could see unshed tears in her eyes. The others had similar looks of understanding letting me know there was no reason to continue. There was a reason to me and they had to hear me out.

“Yes, I do. You need to truly understand why I did what I did. I need to let it all go, please”

“Okay, go on, “the girl sitting by me encouraged me.

“She looked up at me.  She stared straight into my eyes as he marked her, as he took her as his mate. You’d expect to see regret or shock if you caught your best friend in bed with your mate.” I was cut off by a gasp. I looked up to find them all staring at me with a look of horror on their face.

“Your mate slept with your best friend!?  That’s blasphemy! A man is supposed to cherish his mate. She becomes his life! He deserves to die for what he’s done to you and with your best friend that’s just sick! He shouldn’t just throw it away for the first bitch that will give him some ass.” The younger guy growled out as he stormed around the room.  We just stared at him as he rambled on then the rest just turned to look at me ignoring his outburst. I looked at them and continued on.   

“As I was saying she didn’t look like she felt bad for what she was caught doing. She seemed smug. Rachel and I had been raised together. When we were younger she had a slight crush on Adrian then he shifted and we realized we were mates. She said she was over him now I know she never really let it go. I never believed she’d do something like this to me.” I took a slight pause to look at them. 

They were livid that much was obvious. I can only imagine what was going through their heads at the moment. Then they turned to look at me I could see the pity in their eyes. It was my turned to be mad. I would not tolerate people feeling sorry for me.

 “Don’t you dare look at me like that. I left my family, my pack knowing that they would all undoubtedly feel bad for me only to turn up here and have you look down on me. My mate cheated on me. The moment he claimed her, my heart stopped beating.  I’ve felt an agonizing pain slowly gnawing away at me since he looked up at me after being done with her. These last few days I lost everything. I wanted to die.”

They stared at me with shock clearly not expecting my rant.             

“I realized I don’t really want to die. I’m still alive despite  it all. I’m strong and I will not allow people  to think otherwise. I told you all of this so you’d understand. I know  I’m technically a rogue  but I’m not dangerous.”

They all looked at  one another.  The girl next to  me patted my knee as she stood up.

“We know. We still need to talk to our Alpha. He has the final decision.” She said as they started for the door.

 They left and locked the door behind them. It was all out now.  My life rested in their hands now.